Friday, 3 January 2020

Oh My Gyro

A lot of people on Yelp mentioned that this was a really good deal for lunch since it's a huge portion and it's really good.
Lunch special: Chicken on rice $8.45
 I tried out the lunch special with mild hot sauce. It is a huge portion! The garlic sauce was really yummy and the rice was moist. I loved that the chicken shawarma had nice crispy edges and that it was juicy and not too dry (even at the edges). It's really good value since it's super tasty and a huge portion for under $10 with tax. 


Friday, 27 December 2019

Trattoria Taverniti


Spaghetti con Polpette
Spaghetti and meatballs, a very traditional Italian dish, seems really simple, but it's a lot of work to make the perfect meatball and these were pretty good. 

Penne rosina with rose sauce and spicy sausage $19 
It was a really good rose sauce and the spicy sausage wasn't that spicy at all. Overall,  it was a really good pasta dish. The favourite out of the three dishes ordered.

Tagliatelle al Frutti de Mare
Pasta with lots of seafood, but the sauce didn't really stand out or tie the whole dish together. 

Torta Della Nonna and Tiramisu $10 each
The torta della nonna is literally Grandma's tart. It was really nicely done since the almond cream wasn't too sweet and it had a fantastic thick cookie crust. The tiramisu was also really good, not too heavy on the liquor and not too sweet with great mascarpone.

Website: http://tavernitis.ca/

Wvrst

Charcuterie board and cheese with pretzel
The pretzel was pretty tasty - salty on the outside and soft inside.

Currywurst sausage with tomato curry sauce on the side and toast. Duck fat fries. 
The fries were pretty good.

Oktoberfest sausage served currywurst style with tomato curry and toast. I also got the potato salad.
My search for good German potato salad begins (since Schnitzel Queen will be closing soon). 
The sausage was really good and the sauce on top matched it well. The potato salad had too much dill. 

Sausage on a bun

Tuesday, 24 December 2019

Schnitzel Queen

Update: The restaurant has closed.

Dec 24, 2019
Very sad to hear that they'll be closing soon. 

 
Michael Sandwich
So much chicken schnitzel! Sometimes the simpler the sandwich, the better - and Schnitzel Queen's Michael Sandwich is one of the best chicken sandwiches I've ever had. The chicken schnitzel is a thick cut of chicken breast meat breaded and fried and it's paired with their delicious mayo, roasted onions and lettuce with a soft bun. I'll miss this when they close.

 
Chicken and Pork Schnitzel
As much as I love their schnitzel, 90% of the time I get the plates purely for the potato salad. It's my favourite potato salad, and since they stopped selling it separately (they make a certain amount of potato salad a day and allocate it accordingly), I get the plate so I can eat yummy schnitzel with potato salad.  

I love their chicken schnitzel and potato salad and I will really miss it when they close. I'll have to search for a new schnitzel and potato salad place. 

June 2, 2017
Schnitzel Queen moved location from 237 Queen Street East to 211 Queen Street East (right across from Moss Park). It's interesting to note that the area has changed a lot and it's become more gentrified. It's good that the area isn't as sketchy because now Schnitzel Queen's hours are a lot better: they're open a lot later than before! 

Nice decorations and there's a lot more tables and waiting space!


Full Pork and Chicken Schnitzel with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut
It's almost crazy how much food they give you for under $15. Both schnitzels were really good - I still think they have the best schnitzel in Toronto . It's breaded nicely; the meat is tender and juicy; the breading is spot on (not too much or too little - evenly spread out) and it's tasty even without mushroom sauce or anything. It is a lot of meat and they have this AMAZING potato salad to help balance it out. 

Gourmet Chicken Schnitzel
The Gourmet just has sauteed onions and bacon - which are great - but probably not worth the extra $1 since the schnitzel is still good without it. 


August 31, 2012


The inside - it looks like a kitchen! :D
And fully equipped with a kitchen bar, but the real stuff happens in the back. 

We went for a late lunch (because we weren't that hungry) and unfortunately, by the time we got there, the potato salad had almost run out. Teresa told us that she only had enough potato salad for one dinner - which limited our options...
Updated Menu!

"King" Schnitzel sandwich with bacon, roasted onions, sauerkraut and cheese
I can't emphasize how massive this sandwich is and it's such amazing value for $10. 
Soooo good!

Chicken Schnitzel Dinner with potato salad and sauerkraut
The schnitzel is still gigantic, super juicy and tender. I definitely like the chicken more than the veal since it was more meaty and tasty. They make a fantastic potato salad as well (next time I'll have to come earlier for it!)

January 5, 2012

Located a few blocks east of Queen Station is a popular and simple diner-like restaurant with fantastic food. The area is a little sketchy (ok- very sketchy and probably not somewhere you'd want to hang out around at night), but it doesn't really matter since the Schnitzel Queen is only open for lunch on weekdays. All the menu items are under $10 which makes it a great deal! 

The Schnitzel
Wow - what can I say? The food is humongous! I usually have a huge appetite and combine that with the fact that I was starving at lunch time today - I really thought that I would be able to finish the schnitzel, the potato salad and the sauerkraut. I finished about half and felt like I barely made a dent into the lunch. 

The sauerkraut was great! Not too sour and the thin strips of cabbage really absorbed the flavour well. The potato salad - wow was it ever amazing! There was egg, pickle, potato and little flecks of green (probably some herb that I can't distinguish) - based on the ingredient list, I probably wouldn't have gone near it (I'm not a big fan of eggs and pickles in a potato salad), but something about the way they put it together or maybe it was special mayonnaise - who knows? All I know is that it was so great - I tried to scrape off the remains of the mayonnaise at the very bottom because I couldn't get enough of the flavours of the salad. Hands down - one of the best potato salads I've ever had!
Now the schnitzel: first off --> it's HUGE, clearly a sign when it can't even fit in the box properly and although it was thinly sliced, the meat was juicy and it was nicely breaded. The mushroom and onion sauce was strong and just the whole combination came together so well and so perfectly - it's enough to make you want to brave the journey there tomorrow for seconds.

Michael Sandwich
The Schnitzel sandwich was a steal for $7.99! For lunch in Downtown Toronto, it is definitely way above food quality and quantity standards and it's so cheaply priced too. Pork schnitzel, roasted onions, lettuce and some awesome sauce = LOVE.
There was so much meat in this sandwich you could probably eat it with the meat enveloping the bun instead!

Conclusion: Fantastic place and definitely worth the trip through one of the roughest parts of town for lunch! Great value and great food - what more could you ask for?

Monday, 23 December 2019

Bar Buca

Cavatelli al Forno $18
 Oven-baked pasta bolognese & smoked mozzarella 
I thought the presentation of the pasta in the little pan was really cute. The pasta was pretty good and it was covered by a thick layer of mozzarella cheese. 

Website: http://www.buca.ca/bar.html

Sunday, 22 December 2019

Fukugiya (Baumkuchen) - Okinawa

Baumkuchen from Okinawa!


Purple Sweet Potato Baumkuchen
Purple sweet potatoes are a specialty of Okinawa and the baumkuchen definitely reflected that. It had a nice light sweet potato flavour and it was denser and heavier than the Nenrinya baumkuchen


Okinawa Milk Baumkuchen
It was almost like a hint of milk flavour, it was really light. The cake was okay, but it didn't really stand out to me.

Brown Sugar Baumkuchen
Another Okinawa specialty baumkuchen - this one was closer to the light airy texture of Nenrinya's baumkuchen (which is basically the best baumkuchen I've ever eaten). The brown sugar was evident in each layer of the rings, but it wasn't overwhelming sweet. One of the best parts was the nice brown sugar crust on the outside of the cake. This was the favourite of the three baumkuchens.

Website: https://fukugiya.com/